Amazing culinary feats performed in my kitchen as I learn how to cook just about everything without recipes and pass that knowledge on to you. (If you came here looking for Dejamo's Distracted, you came to the right place.)

Sunday, August 28, 2005

I got this Koigu last year but decided I didn't want to do the Charlotte's Web pattern I had originally bought it for. I looked through Folk Shawls and thought the Japanese Kimono Shawl looked good, but didn't have nearly enough yarn for it. Then I found the solid Koigu at another store later this year, so I decided to make it two-toned. I'm really pleased with the way it's turning out, and the Koigu is nice to work with.

This will be my long-term project; I don't expect to finish it until sometime next year. I try not to set deadlines for anything but baby sweaters/blankets and maybe one or two holiday sweaters. If I'm stressing too much, I won't enjoy what I'm doing.

This is the front of a ribbed-yoke baby sweater from Debbie Bliss's Great Knits for Kids (a new revised version). I substituted Anny Blatt's Baby Blatt for the yarn used in the pattern. It's not this grey in person--I still have to figure out how to get closest to true with the camera. It's more of a slate/blue color, with a hint of grey in it.

This is going to a woman at work, who's due mid-September. The pieces are all finished, so I'm pretty sure I can finish it up by then.

When we moved our offices last year, my commute went from a 15 to a 45 minute bus ride, so I started bringing small projects along with me. Right now I'm working on a lace sock pattern I got online from the Sock Bug.

I've made several pairs of socks in the past few months. This picture kind of sucks, but here are a few of them:

Saturday, August 27, 2005

I've been playing with the camera and it'll take me some time to work the bugs out and figure out what I'm doing, but I thought I'd give a little presentation of what I've been working on lately.

Here's a shot of a baby blanket I made for a friend's daughter who's been sick. I'm a little chagrined to admit that I made this blanket a while ago and have been sitting on it instead of sending it to her. Why, you might ask? Because I wanted to send something to her older brother, too, and never got around to figuring out what. But another friend is going to see them next week and said she'd take it to them so now I'm motivated to go out and get something for him. Here it is:

The yarn is Dale Baby Ull and the pattern came from Vogue Knitting on the Go Baby Blankets. I don't often use the yarn called for in a pattern, but for this I'm glad I did. The pattern was complex enough to keep me from being bored, but the four-row pattern was easy enough that I could take it out with me and work on it anywhere.

Friday, August 26, 2005

I've been off to a slow start on this blog because every time I think about posting, I want to be able to show pictures of what I'm talking about. The only problem with that is . . . I don't have a digital camera.

But now, thanks to Mary (thanks, Mary!), I have one! She's graciously loaning me one of hers so I can play with it and see how I like it so I'll have a better idea what to look for when I'm ready to buy one.

It's charging now. I'm hoping to test it over the weekend. Then I'll have some fun, I'm sure.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Another knitting blog...so here I am to fill the void. Besides, my friend Mary started hers yesterday so I already feel a little behind.

I started knitting the week I quit smoking. I figured it would give me something to do with my hands. Five-and-a-half years later, I'm obsessed with it. I love everything about knitting. The beautiful colors and luxurious textures of the yarn, the intricate patterns, the way a project takes shape as the yarn flows off my needles, and that wonderful *aha* moment when I see a new, better, way to do something, or learn a new technique.

I enjoyed the market at Stitches Midwest Sunday--there was lots of lovely yarn to look at. Like Mary, I was most impressed with the Just Our Yarn ladies and their yarn. But there were some gorgeous samples all over the place. Interweave Knits had samples of everything from their newest issue--most impressive was the felted bag. It reminded me of Mary Poppins' carpetbag--I half expected to find it full of all kinds of impossibly big objects. It was awe-inspiring. There was a lot of fair-isle, lots of books. The beautiful Irish yarn that Mary wrote about. And lace. Lots of lace. I think lace is my favorite thing to make so I was pleased to see how much of it was out there. And finger- and lace-weight yarns. It seems the bigger yarn companies are phasing out the finer gauge yarns, so it's nice to see that there are still places to find it.

I've heard that the Michigan Fiber Fest is really great, too. I was hoping to go this year but I don't think it's going to happen. Maybe next year...